I took advantage of Hospice providing a volunteer for some respite - for DAD.

He and I "escaped" for three hours this afternoon and ate at a BBQ place. Drove around to places he lived when he was a kid - his memory of those places is as sharp as a tack! However, he was adamant that "7th Street" went east-west and "Southwest Boulevard" went north-south. He didn't believe me when I told him they were the opposite and literally asked half a dozen people at the BBQ place. I won. Poor dad. He's like "I can't believe I was wrong about that my entire life." I told him, as gently as I could, that I don't think he had that wrong his entire life. After lunch, we went to the popcorn store and dad splurged on some flavored popcorn to put into a popcorn tin.

In two weeks, Dad and I will escape again. This time about an hour's drive south to visit his brother.

Romiha; he is adorable and you are so sweet. What a wonderful afternoon; talk about creating moments of joy! You are a loving and kind daughter. I am glad you had a good time and are planning your next outing.

How lovely!! Will you be doing this every two weeks? It sounds like such a nice day.

That's the plan. Since mom is now on Hospice (at home), I can get a volunteer to sit with mom to provide respite for me, since I'm the primary caregiver. Initially I turned it down, other than when dad has doctor's appointments BUT I changed my mind after dad mentioned the other day that he wished he could jump in his car and drive to check out places. That's when I realized that he never gets time away (other than doctor's appointments), so decided to take advantage of the volunteers!

Dad still is annoying as the co-pilot in the car, but that's okay.

I have the next 3-hour time already in place for 2 weeks from yesterday and plan to do this once every 2 weeks. Yesterday at popcorn shop, dad wanted to wait in the car and have me pick out the popcorn. I said Nope! Parked in the handicapped space and had him come inside to pick out the popcorn. They had a chili-cheese flavor that I know he's never tried and they had samples, so that was one of the flavors he chose. He tires easily, so I understand why he wanted to wait in the car but I also know that he needs to be a little more active for so many reasons. I guess I still had my caregiver hat on underneath the daughter hat!

Thank you for sharing your happy story; what a wonderful picture of you two, by the way!! When my Mom was in the later stages of ALZ, and I needed to take her to an eye appointment in my car , I put her in the backseat for safety. She would wave her arms around and scream when I was driving (LOL, I'm really not that bad of a driver!).